(a) Visual inspection of welding must be conducted by an individual qualified by appropriate training and experience to ensure that:

(1) The welding is performed in accordance with the welding procedure; and

(2) The weld is acceptable under paragraph (c) of this section.

(b) The welds on a pipeline to be operated at a pressure that produces a hoop stress of 20 percent or more of SMYS must be nondestructively tested in accordance with §192.243, except that welds that are visually inspected and approved by a qualified welding inspector need not be nondestructively tested if:

(1) The pipe has a nominal diameter of less than 6 inches (152 millimeters); or

(2) The pipeline is to be operated at a pressure that produces a hoop stress of less than 40 percent of SMYS and the welds are so limited in number that nondestructive testing is impractical.

(c) The acceptability of a weld that is nondestructively tested or visually inspected is determined according to the standards in section 9 or Appendix A of API Std 1104 (incorporated by reference, see §192.7). Appendix A of API Std 1104 may not be used to accept cracks.

[35 FR 13257, Aug. 19, 1970, as amended by Amdt. 192-37, 46 FR 10160, Feb. 2, 1981; Amdt. 192-78, 61 FR 28784, June 6, 1996; Amdt. 192-85, 63 FR 37503, July 13, 1998; Amdt. 192-94, 69 FR 32894, June 14, 2004; Amdt. 192-119, 80 FR 181, Jan. 5, 2015; Amdt. 192-120, 80 FR 12778, Mar. 11, 2015]